Guava / Perakka (malayalam) is an easily available fruit. Though this fruit is not used to make a lot of food varieties, it is a perfect fruit to make wine. Whoever had tasted this wine had agreed that guava wine is wonderful. Most of us have this in our courtyards, so why don’t you give it a try. All the ingredients that we need are available in our kitchen too.
- Prep. time – 30 mins
- Cook time – 15 mins
- Passive time – 42 days
- Servings – 5 litres
Ingredients:
- Guava/ Perakka – 1kg
- Water – 4 litres
- Yeast – 1 tablespoon
- Sugar – 1 1/2 to 2 kg
Direction:
- Boil the water and keep it aside to cool down.
- Use guava that is not overly ripened. Wash the guava/ perakka in clean water. Spread it on a dry and clean cloth for some time to get perfectly dried.
- After drying, cut them into small piece.
- Put these guava pieces, sugar, yeast and water into a big clean sterilized Bharani / ceramic jar. Add 2 kg of sugar only if guava is less sweety else add 1.5 kg sugar. Cover the lid with a cloth and tie it with a string.
- Stir this mixture every day using a wooden spatula/spoon. After 21 days strain the mixture through a cheese/ muslin cloth into a clean dry jar or clean the same jar and use it after drying.
- Now add 250 gm of sugar to this wine and mix it well until the sugar dissolves. Keep it untouched for 21 more days.
- On the 41st day open and strain it into clean and dried bottles and use. This wine can be stored for years.
A word of caution:
- Sterilize –always wash all the utensils and bottles to be used with soap first then wash again with hot water. Thoroughly dry the bottles and lids under the sun to avoid moisture.
- Never fill the jar till the top as the wine’s quantity increases with fermentation. Fill only till 3/4th of the jar.
- The strength of wine becomes higher if the quantity of water is reduced. As the wine matures it gets really strong.
- The wine can be played around with sweetness, it can be increased or decreased depending on your need.
- Always store the wine for fermenting in a cool dark place (not fridge). If you live in a hot place then store it in the kitchen cabinet away from any heat source. If you live in a cold place then store it near the cabinet closest to the oven. You can keep it in a fridge after the wine is fully prepared.
- You may see a few bubbles and froth on the sides of the bottle which is absolutely fine but before using, check if there is any bacteria layer formed on the top and also the taste. It should be sweet with a nice fruity smell. If it tastes terribly sour and smells like vinegar, then you have gone wrong somewhere and you cannot do anything other than throwing it away.
- Always keep in mind that a wine that has turned sour cannot be saved!!
Happy wining!!
